After some thorough design reviews, Orion Technologies announced this morning that it will be launching a second Phoenix Lander to the Moon. This mission, called OT-2, will attempt to land in an unspecified location(as of right now) in the lunar South Pole-Aiken Basin. The second lander will have several methods to prevent a repeat of OT-1. As with OT-1, this second mission will also be CLPS-funded. Mission details are not fully available yet, but some payloads have been announced. These include: the first Wolf Lunar Rover(Orion Technologies), the Dragonfly Lunar Hopper(Orion Technologies), and a NASA-built drill. Additionally, Orion Technologies announced that it will fly one of its Shooting Star Kick Stages on the mission as a rideshare to lunar orbit, though a payload has not been disclosed for Shooting Star yet. Also, Orion Technologies announced the new lander’s name: Artemis, after the goddess of the Moon and hunting. The launch date is currently set for NET June 4.
